Remainder of My Life

Remainder of My Life

by Troy Carlyle
(Tyler, Texas)

The Remainder of My Life

I was lucky, because I had been in the advertising business, so I already knew an artist, and I had layout experience myself. So once my book was written (a process that took about 12 months), it was a fairly simple think to format it for publishing and get the artwork, which my friend did for free.

I went to Lulu (www.lulu.com) because they're rated very high for self-publishing. They have very clear formating instructions and tips, and the best part is that their service is free.

I started with a hard cover edition, and purchased an ISBN package (details through Lulu) for avout $125. This is an inexpensive way to make your book available to Barnes & Noble, Amazon customers, etc.

The downside to buying an ISBN, however, and this is a BIG downside, is that you lose control of your pricing. In my case, my $25 hard cover biography suddenly cost $37, after I bought the ISBN -- and this killed sales.

Still, it gave me exposure, since my book was now available through major distributors (B&N & Amazon).

My solution was to then do a paperback version, again through Lulu, and without an ISBN. Now, even thou my hardcover is forcibly overpriced (my exposure), at least I have a soft cofer that is competitively priced (even if it's only available directly from Lulu.

Note that this pricing situation is due to B&N and Amazon. It's not Lulu's fault. I think they offer a great service, and can't say enough good things about them.

So now, I use my own website marketing to push sales, and my softcover is at least in the top 1/3 sales for Lulu books, which is decent. Additionally, I can say the book is available on Amazon & Barnes & Noble. My total investment to date (aside from buying copies of the books) is about $150. Pretty cheap, if you ask me.

Hope this helps. Good Luck & happy publishing!

Troy

Visit Troy at Tridd.com.

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Remainder of My Life

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Jul 14, 2008
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Impressive!
by: Steve B.

Proof that it's about the text...not the tech!

Jul 14, 2008
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How I built my site
by: Troy

I just used the only software I had on hand, which was MS Publisher (a part of MS Office). So it�s really a very basic site with few �bells & whistles.� The forums are handled through freeforums.org, which is a totally free service. Hosting is through GoDaddy, and I paid something like $25 for two years. So my total added initial investment for all the above was $25. Tridd.com is my first attempt at building a website. Sometime during the next year or two, I hope to get some more sophisticated web publishing software and produce a slicker-looking site.

Jul 12, 2008
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He's doing it!
by: Steve B. (webmaster)

Troy, thanks for a nice post. Authors, will you look at Troy's site!!!

This guy is doing what I always talk about: building a site that's about something MORE than his book...lots more. The graphic link to his book comprises maybe 1% of his home page. The navbar link to his book is SMALLER than many of the other links.

He tells us he's "pushing" his book on the site. This is the kind of pushing that doesn't make potential buyers push back!

Troy has built a destination site. He's given the search engines reason to send surfers to him, and he's given those searchers reason to come back repeatedly. Any advertising person will tell you that repeat exposure is key to selling product.

If your site is only about your book(s), what reason does anyone have to return?

Troy has a forum with nearly 2000 posts. Talk about repeat visitors! To continue a conversation you HAVE to return to the site.

Notice also that Troy has other ways to earn money on his site. He can support his self publishing habit!

(Am I saying everyone should have advertising and such on their site? No. Before you even consider such a thing, you need to have traffic. REAL traffic!)

So here's the big picture: Troy has created a site about something MORE than his book. Note also that Troy has not created a site about something different than his book. His site is gay-oriented; his book is about living with AIDS.

He has created a site that attracts visitors likely to have an interest in his book.

This is the way to make the internet work for you, and my guess is that Troy had/has as much fun writing his site as he does his book. And remember: he reaches a lot more eyeballs with his site than with his book. Troy has a mass readership that most authors would kill for!

What could you write a site about?

Chances are your book was sparked by a passion. Could you create a site on that wider subject? (Let's call it a "niche.") Could you make it something of value for everyone who finds it?

Daunting, I know. I'm not sure how Troy did it, but I know how I did it. I used a service that showed me how to find and define my niche before I wrote my site, so I didn't create something no one would visit. (You're visiting, right?) Then they gave me a set of tools to design a site (without knowing anything about computer code) that would attract search engine traffic.

If you'd like potential buyers to find their way to you, you need to be something more than just one of the 100s of millions of websites out there. (Literally.)

I just Googled GAY EAST TEXAS and Troy's site came in 17th...out of 586,000. If you want to come in high enough in search results to actually be found, you need a plan.

Congrats to you, Troy, on having one. And for creating a website of value.

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Jul 12, 2008
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Submitted by: Steve B. (webmaster)

Title

Comment
Troy, thanks for a nice post. Authors, will you <A HREF="http://tridd.com/index.htm">look at Troy's site</A>!!! This guy is doing what I always talk about: building a site that's about something MORE than his book...lots more. The graphic link to his book comprises maybe 1% of his home page. The navbar link to his book is SMALLER than many of the other links. He tells us he's "pushing" his book on the site. This is the kind of pushing that doesn't make potential buyers push back! Troy has built a destination site. He's given the search engines reason to send surfers to him, and he's given those searchers reason to come back repeatedly. Any advertising person will tell you that repeat exposure is key to selling product. If your site is only about your book(s), what reason does anyone have to return? Troy has a forum with nearly 2000 posts. Talk about repeat visitors! To continue a conversation you HAVE to return to the site. Notice also that Troy has other ways to earn money on his site. He can support his self publishing habit! (Am I saying everyone should have advertising and such on their site? No. Before you even consider such a thing, you need to have traffic. REAL traffic!) So here's the big picture: Troy has created a site about something MORE than his book. Note also that Troy has not created a site about something different than his book. His site is gay-oriented; his book is about living with AIDS. He has created a site that attracts visitors likely to have an interest in his book. This is the way to make the internet work for you, and my guess is that Troy had/has as much fun writing his site as he does his book. And remember: he reaches a lot more eyeballs with his site than with his book. Troy has a mass readership that most authors would kill for! What could you write a site about? Chances are your book was sparked by a <A HREF="http://passion.sitesell.com/writingsuccess.html">passion</A>. Could you create a site on that wider subject? (Let's call it a "niche.") Could you make it something of value for everyone who finds it? Daunting, I know. I'm not sure how Troy did it, but I know how I did it. I used a service that showed me how to find and define my niche before I wrote my site, so I didn't create something no one would visit. (You're visiting, right?) Then they gave me <A HREF="http://tools.sitesell.com/writingsuccess.html">a set of tools</A> to design a site (without knowing anything about computer code) that would attract search engine traffic. If you'd like potential buyers to find their way to you, you need to be something more than just one of the 100s of millions of websites out there. (Literally.) I just Googled GAY EAST TEXAS and Troy's site came in 17th...out of 586,000. If you want to come in high enough in search results to actually be found, you need a plan. Congrats to you, Troy, on having one. And for creating a website of value.

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